Our strategy
Our vision, mission and strategic priorities as a world-leading UK research and development facility.
Richard Oldfield, CEO
"We are industry's research and development partner. When companies need to make things lighter, stronger, smarter and more sustainable they come to the NCC. With access to 'beyond' state-of-the-art technology and the best composites engineering capabilities in the world, we help our customers solve the most complex engineering challenges of our time."
Our Story
The National Composites Centre was created as the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Composites Research and Development following the inclusion of this disruptive technology into government industrial strategy. Our task: to be recognised as a world leader in composite technology, accelerating the development and uptake of digital technologies for sustainable composites and growing the market for composites by driving innovation through collaboration and partnerships.
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Governance
Information on our Governance arrangements as a subsidiary of the University of Bristol.
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Meet the team
The NCC leadership team has extensive engineering and commercial experience across industry sectors.
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Membership at the NCC
An NCC membership gives you access to 'beyond' state-of-the-art technology and the best composites engineering capabilities in the world, as well as expert advice from specialist engineers.
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Academic reach
The NCC works proactively with universities across the UK and overseas in a number of ways to pull through fundamental research to industrial applications.
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Cross-Catapult programmes
We work closely with partners across the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and wider UK Catapult Network on collaborative projects.
Why choose composites?
Composites enable our everyday lives – in transport, energy, healthcare, defence, communications and leisure. Lightweight, strong, durable and adaptable, the unique properties of composites help us to design and make better products with less waste that last longer, helping us to address urgent societal challenges of sustainability and net-zero.
Our networks
High Value Manufacturing Catapult
The NCC is proud to be one of seven centres that makes up the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which is itself one of nine Catapults created as a key tool in Innovate UK’s range of innovation support for businesses. Each Catapult is focused on an area in which the UK has the potential to grow in strategically important global markets.
Composites Leadership Forum
The National Composites Centre is a pivotal member of the UK’s Composite Leadership Forum which works to influence the Government and other bodies to bring together support for composites and ensure growth and industrial success for the UK. It is chaired and led by industry.
Composites UK Trade Association
The NCC also is a board member of Composites UK Trade Association, fully supporting its mission to encourage continuous growth and development of the industry, promoting the best practice use of composites materials. We work closely to bring companies throughout the composites supply chain together, creating a unified voice to drive the industry forward to the benefit all of those involved.
Our Members
Our latest news
News
News
Opinion
News
Case Study
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Funding secured for UK’s first research carbon fibre line
03 Sep 2024The National Composites Centre is delighted to announce that it has secured funding from the Department of Science Innovation and Technology’s Research and Innovation Organisations Infrastructure Fund to build precursor and carbonisation lines to enable innovation in carbon fibre production. Cygnet Texkimp (Northwich, UK) will design and build the research lines, utilising their world class expertise in carbon fibre production machinery. -
Scottish Renewables joins SusWIND Steering Board
20 Aug 2024NCC is delighted to announce that Scottish Renewables will be joining the SusWIND Steering Board. They will provide strategic guidance to a growing community of stakeholders in the composite industry and energy sector that work towards creating end-of-life value from past and current generations of turbine blades and embedding circularity principles at the heart of future generations of turbines. This includes driving transparency between OEMs and owner operators to enable educated procurement decisions that will reduce through-life environmental impact. -
Re-designing design for the future pt1
02 Aug 2024In the first in this series of blogs Chief Engineer for Digital Engineering Technologies, Amit Visrolia explains the foundations of digital engineering -
Space West - July Newsletter
30 Jul 2024Welcome to the July edition of our Space West Newsletter. With each newsletter, we aim to share the most recent discoveries, advancements, and stories from the world of Space in the South West. -
Cryogenic Tank Case Study
22 Jul 2024The NCC has tested a range of composite cryogenic storage tanks with liquid hydrogen that it has designed and manufactured to support the UK’s transition to the hydrogen economy.
